2. amps-preamps
  3. 150450-134126

Pulling myself out of old, broken equipment, one hesitant step at a time...

My father purchased Klipschorns in 1976, ran them with various McIntosh components, so it was only natural that I would look for my own version of hi-fidelity, starting around 1992. That brought me in touch with Vandersteen 2Ci's and 205wpc parasound HCA1200ii. The amp still functions; the 2Ci's are in the shop. They want $400 for the re-coning of one driver and re-edging another, on one speaker. This would also imply another $400 for the other speaker, which was the shop's recommendation and it makes common sense to refresh both speakers, as doing only one would create a kind of lop-sided musical affair. So, I can spend $800 on the 2Ci's, but this means I'm working with a thirty-year-old set-up and who knows when other drivers will pop. Truthfully, the shop is giving me a deal, even at the $400 mark; I know, because he waved some of the labor charges that he included initially. Apparently, Vandys are not easy labor, but Vandy lovers would like to keep the 2C experience rolling as long as possible...

Anyway, I also snatched a sale pair or RP280's for less than $500. They are lively and have provided many memorable music moments over the past nine months. Nevertheless, I find myself wanting to move on and up with things, so here is where I have gone and invested probably hundreds of hours reading reviews, few of which offer much in terms of direct comparison to other equipment (I might want to buy)... So, here is what is standing out for me:

Odyssey Kismet in the Stratos case.

Van Alstine Vision SET 120 or 400

Nuforce STA 200

So, any useful way of discriminating between the three, recognizing that the amplification of the STA 200 and 120 are about 80wpc, with the other two closer to 200wpc. I'm particularly interested in a 3-D soundstage. Subtlety and dynamics, authentic highs, sweet midrange and bass control are also on the top of my list. Before pointing me to tubes, I'll note that I live in one of the warmer parts of California. We are in the midst of 100 degree days here, so tubes will not fit well for me, until about November 1st.      

And finally, the idea is to pick a sweet amp, followed by a speaker upgrade. I'm interested in the excitement surrounding Tektons. I don't imagine spending more than 2K on any particular element of my new system... 

Thank you for your thoughts!
listening99
soix
8,741 posts
 
I don’t think it’s worth repairing the Vandies when you can buy the whole speaker in good used condition for less than the cost of repair.  And you'll still have your old speakers around for other replacement parts if needed in the future, or you can just sell them to lessen the net cost of the new used Vandies.  That's of course assuming you want to stick with that speaker. 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264436438739?ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F...

Frankly, I think you’re doing this backwards. Finalize what speakers you want that do all the 3D stuff, etc. you’re looking for and then find the amp and preamp (or integrated amp) that can drive them properly and that also have sonic properties you’re looking for. And yes, for heaven’s sake get that AVR preamp section out of your system as it will be a significant bottleneck to the level of sound quality you can potentially achieve. A good integrated may well be the best and most cost-effective way to go since you need both an amp and pre.

Some other speakers you might consider are Joseph Audio and ProAc just to name a couple alternatives. Best of luck.
tomcarr
1,471 posts
 
Agree with soix above. Several Vandy 2s for sale here and other sites.

Tom
mcreyn
293 posts
 
listening99,

1)  Just so you are aware, it is an old wives tale that bass waves cannot be produced in a room smaller than the wavelength (think of the great bass cars have).  It is in fact far different.  When length of the bass wave exceeds twice length of the longest room dimension, that is the frequency of the lowest resonate frequency in your room below which there are no standing waves.  This is also the frequency at which, in an ideal room, you will gain 12db per octave, but in the real world with losses due to walls, it is less than that.  In your case, this frequency is about 48hz.  

Keep in mind, the above frequency and gains are independent of boundary reinforcement.  What you are hearing is likely boundary reinforcement in the other rooms as you get close to walls.  

2)  Before you do anything else, treat your first reflection points and see what that does for your imaging, I would expect a substantial improvement.  For the moment, just treat the sidewall and floor, you can use pillows to try it out.  Below are instructions and a link to a video.  

https://www.gikacoustics.com/early-reflection-points/

3)  I agree, a pre-amp would likely represent a significant improvement.  The Schiit Freya + is an excellent value.  (Full disclosure, I have a Freya S and an original Saga).  If you are not going to run balanced connections, you can get the Saga + for $399, or one of the remaining closeout original Sagas from Schiit's closeout page for $199 plus the tube (this may be the audio deal of the decade and the reason I bought one for my desktop system).  

4)  Do not spend more money on your 2ci speakers.  I love Vandersteens, but your money is much better spent on purchasing a used pair of 2ce, 2ce signatures or 2ce signature II (in increasing cost order and quality order).  The 2ce was a significant upgrade from the 2ci (I have owned the 2c, 1c, and 3a sig in the past and spent considerable time listening to the 2ci, 2ce, and 2ce sig).  
reubent
6,937 posts
 
It is easy to remove drivers from Vandersteen speakers. I removed the woofer and tweeter from a pair of Vandersteen 3's and sent the tweeter to Richard for repair. I believe the cost was $94 (in 2017), including the return shipping, and I had the tweeter back in less than a week. (They did the actual repair/replacement the same day the received the defective tweeter). For the woofer, I simply re-glued the existing surround which was in good shape, but had come loose from the cone.

I think there is a video, or at least printed instructions, regarding how to remove the drivers, on the services page of the Vandersteen website.
stringreen's avatar
stringreen
6,371 posts
 
good for you reubent....I removed the tweeter and upper mid from a 5A and had them repaired at Vandersteen....not expensive.
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